Combination garment



A ril 27., 1926. 1,582,815 N. HATCH couBmATIon GARMENT Filed Jan. 18,, 1924 INVENTOR. x M THAN 1i: TCH.-

I, A ATTO QEY.

Patented Apr. 27, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NATHAN HATCH, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOB TO STEPHEN V. HATCH, OI ALBANY, NEW YORK.

COMBINATION GARMENT.

Application filed January 18, 1924. Serial No. 686,949.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NATHAN HATCH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Albany, county of Albany, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combination Garments, of which the following is a specification.

This invention *elates to an article of wearing apparel and, more particularly, to union undergarments for men, women, and children. More specifically, the invention relates to an undergarment of the type similar to that of my former Patent No. 1,213,- 481, and to a method of making garments of that general type. i

In this type of garment the use of buttons and button holes for closing the garment about the neck of the wearer is obviated by so forming this portion of the garment by means of independent shoulder pieces or flaps that, when the garment is to be donned, to enlarge the neck opening in such a manner as to permit the body of the wearer to slip therethrough into the garment and, when the garment is in position on the wearer, these shoulder pieces assume a position on the shoulders closing the garment over the chest and back and fitting snugly about the neck of the wearer. Garments of this type are commonly formed from fabric knitted or woven in a continuous tubular form, which is cut into lengths of the dimensions required for the garment, and these lengths "suitably cut to form the leg and body portions. In forming the neck and shoulder portions of the garment the tubular'fabr-ic at the upper, body portion of each lngthis slit longitudinally on each side for a sufficient distance to provide arm holes, thereby forming front and rear flaps covering the upper parts of the back and chest of'the wearer. In former methods of forming these garments the upper edges of these flaps are cut on a line curved downwardly at the inner or central portion so as to form longitudinally extending shoulder flaps at each side or corner, which are then overlapped and stitched. at the side or arm hole edges in a position to lie on the shoulders of the. wearer. The downwardly curved central portions of the front and rear flaps thus form a neck opening while proyidingja'; complete covering for the chest and b'ackofl-the' we'aren' In cutting a tubular fabric into lengths suitable for this pur: pose, the length of each section or length was equal to that from the upper corners of the flaps to the bottom of the leg portion, the portion cut from the central portion of the upper edge being wasted, and the lengths being longer than the normal length of the garment by a distance equal to that fromv the. bottom of the curve to the upper cor ners, or to the length of the shoulder flaps.

The waste is obviated by my present invention, an object of which is to provide a method of forming garments of the above type with a maximum economy of fabric.

Another object of the invention is to provide a. garment of the above type which is of a more reliable shape and more perfectly fitted to the shoulders of the wearer and strengthened against the tendency to slip from the shoulder down the arms of the wearer.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a method of forming garments of the which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of a blank piece of fabric indicating the manner in which the blank is cut to be sewn into a garment.

Fig. 2 is a front view of a union suit embodymg a form of the invention.

Fig. 3 is a front view of the upper part of the garment the lower part being broken away, and one shoulder flap-being folded back to show the construction of the flaps.

Fig. 4 is a front view of a pattern blank of the upper or body portion of the garment before securing the sleeves and the shoulder flaps in place, the sleeve being indicated in dotted lines on one side of the figure, one of the frontshoulder flaps being turned forwardlyon the other side of the figure to more clearly illustrate its construction. r

Fig. 5 is a side view of the garment with the sleeve removed, looking in the direction of the arrow .of Fig. 2, and,

Fig.6 is a top view of the garment.

In forming garments according to my present invention, tubular fabric is cut into sections of a length sufiicient to extend from the bottom of the leg portions to the neck portion, not including the shoulder flap portions, the upper end of the pieces being cut on a substantially straight line at approximately a right angle to the length of the tubular fabric and at approximately the base of the central or neck portion. Shoulder flaps are then formed by. sewing to the upper edges of the lengths pieces of the fabric taken from small pieces formed in cutting the fabric to form leg and arm members. As these pieces would otherwise not be utilized a saving of material is made on each garment equal to the length of the shoulder flaps.

Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawings, a tubular fabric is severed into lengths or portions 10 each having an upper edge 12 and a lower edge 14, an upper edge of one length and a lower edge of .the next adjacent length being formed directly by each cutting of the fabric as the fabric is severed into lengths. The leg portions are then formed by cutting a central portion 16 from the lower portion .of the length and the upper end portion of the length is cut downwardly at each side as at 18, and 20, to a point corresponding to the arm pits, to form openings for the arm holes, thereby forming a front flap 22 and a rear flap 24. The upper edges 26 and 28, respectively, of the front and rear flaps 22 and 24, are substantially straight and at a right angle to the longitudinal axis of the tubular fabric.

On the upper edge 26 of the front flap 22 at its outer end shoulder flaps 30 and 32, of substantially triangular shape are sewn on seams 34 and 36,'respective1y, the side edges of the shoulder flaps forming continuations of the side edges of the front flap. On the upper edge 28 of the rear flap 23 a pair of similar shoulder flaps 38 and 40 is similarly.

sewn on seams 42 and 44 in position immediately back of the front flaps. The shoulder flaps, may, of course, be of any suitable shape for the particular type of garment to which the invention is applied. As indicated in the drawings, the shoulder flaps on each front and rear flap do not meet, their inner corners being spaced apart, leaving a central downwardly curved, neck portion 46. In forming the neck opening, the top edges 26 and :28 of the flaps 22 and 24 may be varied slightly from a straight line but the main portion of-the shoulder flaps is formed the added triangul ar-;portions 30-, 32,- 38 and-40. The lengths of thepiecesmay -be ther shape the neck portion, particularly of the front flap, as indicated at 48.

\Vhen the shoulder flaps 30, 32, 38 and 40 have been attached to the front and rear flaps 22 and 24, respectively, the front shoulder flaps 30 and 32 are placed, or lapped, under the opposite portions of the rear flap 24 and the rear shoulder flaps 38 and 40 are lapped over the front flap 22 in the manner indicated in the drawing. As indicated in the drawings the sideedges of the shoulder flap portions 30, 32, 38, and 40, preferably form extensions of the side edges of their respective flaps 22 and 24, and, as the flaps ,are overlapped, the side edges of the opposite flaps are brought into superposed positions and stitched on seams 49 and 50 thus forming the arm holes 52 and 54, to which sleeves may be attached.

The seams 34 and 42, and 36 and 44, are approximately superposed, although they may be slightly spaced or may cross each other as indicated in Fig. 6. In any case, they extend from the arm holes over the top of the shoulder to approximately the neck opening, serving to stiffen this portion of the shoulder members of the garment and to resist any, tendency for it to wrinkle downwardly to the sleeves. These seams thus assist in ,holding the garment in its proper position on the wearer while still permitting the shoulder flaps to be folded out of the way for the passage of the wearers body when the garmentis being put on, as in my former patent.

The formation of the shoulder flaps from separate pieces as above, in addition to economizing on material, also enables the upper or shoulder portion of the garment to be shaped more freely to the most suitable form since the shape of the shoulder pieces may be adapted to this purpose with less limitation than when formed from the body of the tubular fabric.

The garment may be made of either Weven, knitted or other suitable fabric, and except for the novel features of construction which form my invention, it is made in the usual way, namely, the leg portions may be long or short, the arm portions long or.

garment securely in place upon the sl1ou1-' ders of the wearer without danger of any portion of the garment becoming misplaced. At the same time, these flaps can be pushed aside by the hands leaving a full opening at the upper portion of the garment amply sufficient inorder to permit the wearer to disrobe.

Having described the invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patentis:

1 A bifurcated union garment of the type described comprising a fabric in tubular form, the upper edge thereof having oppositely disposed centrally arranged depressions formed respectively at the front and back of the garment,and also oppositely disposed substantially horizontal straight edges extending outwardly from the central openings through the outer corners thereof and also provided with oppositely disposed vertical slits at the respective upper and outer corners thereof to form a front and a rearbody flap, four shoulder" flaps of separate pieces of material, each being substantially triangular in form, one of therangles being substantially a right angle, each one of the said shoulder flaps being secured by seams along one of its sides forming a leg of the right angle toone of the said horizontal straight edges forming the tops' of the respectixge body flaps, and also being secured by seams along its side forming the other leg of the right angle to the adjacent vertical ed e of the opposing body flaps each of said s1de edges and seams being limited in length to extend. to a point located substantially just below the shoulder and above the arm pit, the third and hypothenuse side of each of said shoul-,. der flaps being entirely free and formin in continuations with the exposed upper e ges of the front and back flaps the entire edge (of the body opening extending from shoulder seam to shoulder seam. "2; A method of forming garments of the type'described which comprises, severing a tubular fabric into lengths suitable for the garment, forming the upper end portion of said lengths into a front and a rear body flap, attaching shoulder flaps of separate pieces of material to the upper edges of said body flaps, the side edges of said shoulder flaps forming continuations of the side edges of said body. flaps, and securing the side edge of each flap to the corresponding side edge of the opposite body flap to form arm holes and a neck opening;

3, A method of formlng garments of the type described which comprises, forming a fabric in tubular form, severing said fabric in definite lengths at substantially straight transverse cuts, slitting said lengths from one end to form a pair of arm openings and front and rear body flaps therebetween, cutting said-lengths at their other end portions to form leg portions, forming shoulder flaps from material cut in forming said leg portions, attaching said shoulder flaps to the upper edges of said front and rear flaps, the side edges of said shoulder flaps forming continuations of the side edges of said body flaps, and securing the side edge of each flap to the corresponding side edge of the opposite body flaps to form complete arm holes and a neck opening.

, NATHAN HATCH. 

